Suffolk Freemasons have made a £12,000 grant to ‘Maggie’ The Ipswich Community Playbus, a not for profit, equal opportunities charity, run by a board of Trustees for families with children under 5 years in Ipswich.
‘Maggie’, who is celebrating 20 years of being a Playbus this year, is a mobile double decker bus converted into a pre-school/parents-toddler-baby group on wheels offering quality Early Years education and bringing children and families together. The Playbus travels to 6 set locations each week, term time, visiting areas where there is the greatest concentration of social housing, where many families are from low socio-economic backgrounds and where there are no similar facilities nearby.
The Facilities
The Playbus has on board 2 baby areas, one downstairs, one upstairs, together with a sand pit, craft and paint areas, in-built slide, home corner, small world sets, book corner with leading library, puzzles and jigsaws, themed area and imaginative play. There are toilet facilities and a generator which provides the heating and lighting. All play sessions are free of charge and accessible to everyone.
The staff on board follow the Early Years Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum in planning various and different themes each term to engage young children and develop their learning skills, increasing communication and vocabulary range, interaction and social awareness and behavioural issues. It also brings families and communities together.
Combating Loneliness
Reducing isolation has been a major part of ‘Maggie’The Playbus’ work this past year. Young families have had the added worries, over the past 2 years, of dealing with the Covid19 Pandemic and the Lockdowns of the whole country. This all has added to the greatest feelings of isolation, loneliness and being cut off entirely from everyone.
All activities on board ‘Maggie’ are aimed at encouraging participation and interaction. Last year ‘Maggie’ The Playbus helped address the isolation experienced by 360 pre-school children living in these areas by providing somewhere safe for them to play away from the family home, but within their immediate community. Their siblings and parents/carers also benefited from being able to meet their neighbours and others in a similar situation creating community cohesion.
Mandy Potter, Playbus Co-ordinator commented;
'Maggie, all the families, staff and the Trustees are absolutely overwhelmed with this Grant and we are so very grateful to the Suffolk Freemasons for their great support. I would like to thank them very much, it means so much to us!'
Rick Orme from Suffolk Freemasons, added;
'Having visited ‘Maggie’ and seen for myself the range of activities they offer, I’m delighted that we are able to offer support to this fantastic charity in Ipswich and therefore help them to continue with the valuable work they do for the community'.
The grant from Suffolk Freemasons has been made through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.
For more information about the charity please email Mandy Potter, Playbus Co-Ordinator.
